Welcome to Tuscazoar!

In 1920, Canton’s Troop 5 began building a cabin downriver from Zoarville. A year later, the newly-formed Canton Scout Council chose an open meadow a half-mile away for its summer camp. Known as "The Wilderness Camp", it was renamed "Camp Tuscazoar" in 1925. The name blends the area’s Native American heritage with the legacy of the German separatists who founded the town of Zoar and once owned a portion of the camp property. Thousands of campers have hiked Tuscazoar's trails, climbed its hills and slept beneath its tall timbers. Feel free to wander the camp and visit its historic sites. However, please stay on established trails. Use caution in areas of rugged terrain. Also, we encourage you to clean up any trash or man-made materials left behind by careless visitors. Help us keep our camp litter-free and enjoy your stay. As the stockade sign reads, "You are a stranger here but once." 

Standing at the far end of the parking lot, the stockade has become the symbol of Camp Tuscazoar. The men of the Pipestone camp honors program built the first stockade on this site in the early 1960’s. A replica of the fort palisades gate that once stood at the camp’s first entrance near Pioneer Point, it was torn down and rebuilt in 1998. The stockade is dedicated to former area scout council executive Dudley Unkefer, who died in a fire.

B. W.C. Moorhead Museum

The W.C. Moorhead Museum exhibits photographs, books, uniforms, patches, artifacts and other memorabilia depicting the history of Camp Tuscazoar and area Scouting. The museum, which also serves as the camp trading post, was built in 1995 as part of Camp Tuscazoar's 75th anniversary celebration. W.C. Moorhead, Tuscazoar's first Ranger, established a trust fund to finance the museum's construction. 

C. Tom's Chapel

A short distance from the stockade, nestled among tall oaks, tulips and maples, stands Tom’s Chapel. The chapel was built in 1965 in memory of Tommy Hohn, a Star Scout in Troop 6 at Canton’s First Methodist Church, who died at age 14. The congregation raised a memorial fund in Tommy’s name and, with the help of Troop 6 and scoutmaster H.P. Whittaker, they constructed the open-air structure. The ashes of Tommy’s cremated body were interred beneath the chapel's floor.

D. Hoover Lodge

Originally designed to serve as a training center, Hoover Lodge and its adjacent outdoor amphitheater were dedicated in 1949. The building's name honors Frank G. Hoover, a North Canton industrialist who donated the funds for the lodge and whose contributions to Camp Tuscazoar and area scouting are unequaled. Hoover Lodge also stands on the site of the first Pipestone camp honors ceremony.

E. Central Camp

In 1936, the proposed construction of Dover Dam and the relocation of the railroad meant that many of Camp Tuscazoar’s buildings had to be moved. This reconstruction ultimately produced today's Central Camp area.

Kimble Hall, the camp dining hall, was constructed in 1940 and the kitchen was added in 1954. In the summer of 1975, a fire burnt much of the roof. Most of the building was saved due in part to a bucket brigade of scouts that stretched from the dining hall to the nearby swimming pool.

In 1957, family and friends of Gerald Duryee funded the construction of the Duryee Memorial Trading Post Building. Duryee Lodge now serves as the camp office.

The Richard W. Belcher Memorial Lodge was built in 2005 with funds provided by family and friends of Dr. Belcher. The lodge was designed to serve the needs of physically disabled campers.

For many years, the camp swimming pool sat next to the dining hall.  Construction of this pool began in 1946 and was completed in 1947. The pool was removed in 2000.  

F. Jamboree Lodge

First used as a nature lodge and then as the camp handicraft lodge and trading post, Jamboree Lodge was built in 1951 from seed money the McKinley Scout Council (later known as Buckeye Council) had left over from attending the National Jamboree in 1950.

G. Troop 5 Cabin

The original Troop 5 cabin was built in 1920 on a terrace above a small spring known as Gist’s Spring near Old Campsite. The cabin was disassembled and moved to its present site in 1933. Troop 5 Cabin is constructed almost entirely of wood from Camp Tuscazoar and resembles the log cabins at nearby Schoenbrunn. It is the oldest cabin at Camp Tuscazoar.

The Trail to Pioneer Point

The trail from Troop 5 cabin to Pioneer Point winds along Netawatwes Brook. Stone walls that once formed the camp’s first swimming pool are visible in the creek bed. As the trail climbs steeply to Pioneer Point, deciduous trees give way to a pine forest. Near the bluffs above the railroad bed are the remnants of the camp's first dining hall. Above the dining hall site stood a cabin used by Tuscazoar’s first camp director and the founder of the Pipestone camp honors ceremony, Chief George Deaver.

H. Pioneer Point

Pioneer Point, an authentic Indian lookout, offers a panoramic view of the northern Tuscarawas River valley, where the river flows south from Zoar past the camp. Here, since 1925, first-time campers have placed stones upon a stone cairn. Former Camp Director I.W. Delp started the pile as a memorial to Revolutionary War soldiers who built and defended nearby Ft. Laurens in 1778-1779. Through the years, the stone cairn has also come to symbolize the spirit of Tuscazoar. In 1930 a group of boys led by Ralph Reichenbach spelled "Camp Tuscazoar" in white stones on the face. The letters can still be seen more than a mile away.

I. Zoarville Station Bridge

The Zoarville Station (Fink Truss) Bridge, is the only existing bridge that used the "through truss" design of German designer Albert Fink. Located where Route 212 once crossed One Leg Creek (now Connotton Creek), the bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Ohio Register of Historic Places and the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER). The bridge was constructed in the late 1860’s near Dover and was moved to this location, near the old Zoarville railroad station, in 1905. The bridge is a key stop along the Zoar Valley Trail. The design is called a "through" truss because traffic passed through the structure of the bridge. This bridge design also used distinctive "Phoenix" columns - hollow wrought-iron tubes known for their strength.  Restoration efforts began shortly after the bridge was acquired in 1997; it was re-assembled and re-opened in 2007.

J. Rex Farrall Carving

Along the lower abandoned railroad bed, near a tunnel under the old railroad grades, is the carving of an Indian chief. Tuscazoar camper and staff member Rex Farrall carved the figure in the late 1920’s. A scout in Troop 4, Rex Farrall served as the camp Bugler and was editor of the camp newspaper, "The Trailblazer." When he died, his ashes were spread on the camp property. A fading red and white arrow logo nearby was used as part of a scout Order of the Arrow ceremony. Please use extreme caution when walking through the tunnel.

K. Keppler Lodge

Keppler Memorial Lodge was constructed in 1953 by the scouts of the Netawatwes Scout District. The lodge remains the most popular cabin for weekend camping at Tuscazoar. It was built to commemorate the life of Homer Keppler, the first Silver Beaver Scout from the old McKinley Scout Council. He served as scoutmaster during World War I in Dover, Ohio, and was a Camp Tuscazoar staffer in 1944.  This lodge was the camp's Nature Lodge when Tuscazoar was an official Boy Scout summer camp.

L. Tuscazoar's Oldest Tree

Beyond the rifle range stands a towering Tuliptree, the oldest known tree at Camp Tuscazoar. For more than a century this great Tulip has stood, witnessing the movements of the Zoarite miners, the first scout encampment, harsh winters, floods and drought.  Unfortunately, the tree fell during a storm a few years ago.

M. Dover Dam

Constructed in 1936, Dover Dam was one of a series of dams built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District. The dam protects thousands of acres of crop land from flooding. Dover Dam’s construction forced the relocation of many of Camp Tuscazoar’s original buildings because they were in the dam’s flood plain or in the path of the relocated railroad. Please use caution near the dam.

Links to more photos of Dover Dam:

N. Buzzard's Roost

Here, on a rocky outcropping hundreds of feet above the Tuscarawas River, one can see Dover Dam below, observe the hillsides far across the river valley and watch as the Tuscarawas River continues toward New Philadelphia and Gnadenhutten to the Muskingum River. This lofty pinnacle was named for the buzzards that alight on the rocks. Like Pioneer Point, Buzzard’s Roost served as a lookout for area Indians. At one time, Buzzard’s Roost was also known as Post’s Point, in honor of Frederick Post, a Moravian missionary who visited this valley.

O. Zoarite Iron Mines

After establishing the community of Zoar in 1817-1818, the German separatists began mining iron in the surrounding hills to provide income for the community. One such mine was located on the present camp property. A technique known as kidney mining, an early form of strip mining, was used to uncover the raw iron ore. The soil was stripped away to reveal the ore beneath. Signs of this activity can still be seen along the northern side of the horseshoe trail from Buzzard’s Roost. A stone wall at the end of the trail probably was used to load the iron ore into waiting carts for transport to a nearby furnace.

P. Troop 1 Cabin

Troop 1 Cabin stands tucked away in a remote valley above Shingask Brook, along a branch of Icky's Trail. The cabin was built by North Canton's Troop 1 and, since 1935, its location has offered campers a small taste of backcountry wilderness. The green-sided cabin has no electricity or running water and, during the summer months, may be difficult to spot from the trail.

Q. Stone Memorial Lodge

The Stone Memorial Lodge was built in 1978 with funds donated by the Stone Family of Zoarville who are descendants of the original Zoar Separatists. Located across Boy Scout Road near the camp entrance, the lodge contains a furnace, kitchen and a large fireplace.

R. Richard W. Belcher Memorial Lodge

The Richard W. Belcher Memorial Lodge was built in 2005 with funds provided by family and friends of Dr. Belcher. Located on the site of the camp's former tool shed, the lodge is designed to serve the needs of campers with physical disabilities.